New Seattle-based dating service uses Facebook, gets cash from Microsoft

Thought LikeBright, you can search through friends of friends, find common interests and then reach out to someone all through Facebook.

Thought LikeBright, you can search through friends of friends, find common interests and then reach out to someone all through Facebook.

Photo: LikeBright promotional material

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On LikeBright, you can play the matchmaker by finding two people in your friends of friends lists on Facebook and introducing them.

On LikeBright, you can play the matchmaker by finding two people in your friends of friends lists on Facebook and introducing them.

Photo: Ellison, Jake

New Seattle-based dating service uses Facebook, gets cash from Microsoft

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Looking for a relationship or to fix up a friend? Well, you’re just a couple clicks away from meeting a friend of a friend or matching a pair online through the social media network you already have.

LikeBright is a new dating service startup that helps you use Facebook to find or set up friends, and the company is pretty exited today because the Bing Fund sent the dating service some money. LikeBright can’t say how much, but could say it was enough to make the dating service “incredibly grateful,” according to LikeBright spokeswoman Kirsten Rogers.

The company’s primary audience is single women, who are outnumbered by men on dating sites and may find it challenging, to say the least, to work up the courage to meet up with a complete stranger.

“We want to make online dating safer for women, primarily … by giving them a way to be introduced by friends of friends,” Rogers said.

“Everyone on our team who is in a relationship met their significant other through a friend of a friend at a house party, through an introduction,” she explained, “and our CEO and founder came up with the idea of how can we put this on an online platform that is safe and comfortable for users.”

While you can on your own troll through your friends and friends of friends profiles, LikeBright’s tool makes it easier to find likely candidates and then to ping them via email letting them know you’re interested or, if you’re a matchmaker, letting two people know you think they might right for each other. After that, you can ignore or say what the heck and respond in the positive.

“LikeBright’s mission is to eliminate loneliness using the shared social ties that connect people,” said LikeBright founder and CEO Nick Soman in a news release. “Most single people meet their partners through friends, and lots of people like to set their friends up. We give them a simple, social and safe way to do this online. People deserve to find love through the people they trust. Having Bing and Microsoft in our corner will help us make it happen faster.”

In fact, it was something like meeting through a friend of a friend that lead Microsoft to LikeBright. On the Bing Fund blog post about its investment, Bing writers gave a “special shout out to Andy Sack of TechStars Seattle for connecting us to LikeBright! Today’s announcement is more evidence of an increasingly rich and vibrant ecosystem we have here in Seattle.”

But what happens when that especially nosy friend starts trying to match you up with everyone he or she can think of?

Rogers said, sure that’s possible, but added “I think that friend could use some feedback that you appreciate their support but, you know, one recommendation a day is more than enough.”

After all, every relationship needs a little work to keep it solid.

Oh, and speaking of matchmaking – if you think you’re the best at hooking people up, LikeBright is running a contest to find the world’s best matchmaker with partners Theo Chocolate, Uber, Yelp and Fandango. Prizes include a year’s supply of chocolate, free town car rides and movie tickets. Contest details are at www.likebright.com.